Citation and License

Nanoscale Research Letters 2012, 7:674
doi:10.1186/1556-276X-7-674

Published: 13 December 2012

Abstract

We report the formation and characterization of graphene dispersions in two organosilanes,
3-glycidoxypropyl trimethoxysilane (GPTMS) and phenyl triethoxysilane (PhTES) as new
reactive solvents. The preparation method was mild and easy and does not produce any
chemical modification. The dispersions, which exhibit the Tyndall effect, were characterized
by TEM and Raman spectroscopy to confirm the presence of few-layer graphene. Concentrations
as high as 0.66 and 8.00 mg/ml were found for PhTES and GPTMS, respectively. The latter
is one of the highest values reported for a dispersion of graphene obtained by any
method. This finding paves the way for the direct synthesis of polymer nanofiller-containing
composites consisting of graphene and reactive silanes to be used in sol–gel synthesis,
without any need for solvent removal, thus preventing graphene reaggregation to form
graphite flakes.